HELP!

[kez6830]

Hello me and my partner are fighting with our local hospital trying to get them to pay attention to our son who we believe is autistic but they dont seem bothered. Matthew is nearly 4 years old and was born 13 weeks premature. He still can't speak, he has major behaviour issues and hits out alot also constantly bangs his head purposely. Getting him ready in a morning is a big fight and we are frequently attacked. I was just wondering if anyone could gibe us any advice which may help us in getting a diagnosis/doctors just to finally listen to us as we have been pushing know for 2 years and feel like we are banging our heads on a brick wall. We recently have had some family photos taken and the photographer himself as a 18 year old autistic daughter, we didnt mention matthews problems to him but he himself picked up on all this and said matthew is autistic like his daughter. Other people that work with our son ie, behaviour experts, speech and language therapists also have mentioned he showing signs of autism. Please can anyone help?
Thankyou Kerry x

You need to ask your Gp for a referral for an assessment for possible autism.

If he refuses you should complain to your local PALS (Patient Liaison service).

If you are already seeinga Paediatrician you should ask him to refer you on to a Consultant who can assess for autism. You have a right to a 2nd opinion if the Consulatnat you are dealing withis unable / unwiling to refer you to someone who can dx.

It's often best to put the request in writing - just asking means they can ignore you. They cannot ignore a letter.

Best wishes

Hi SausageMonster, We've already been reffered to a consultant/specialist for the last 18 months/2years now and they are just refusing to actually do an assessment on our son. They keep saying it cant be done till he's 5years but on here and other site people are saying their children got diagnosed at 18mths-2yrs.
Thanks kerry x

i would be ringing and asking for 2nd opinion. This age of 5 crap, is just that crap!! we are going though dx process with dd2 and she is just 3.
I would also see if you can get a referal to GOSH autistim assessment team (they only take 2nd opinions) you can do this though your GP.
Sorry your having such a fight, where are you? Maybe someone in your area knows a good pead.

I agree with Lisa

You need to get a dx and an assesement, and I don't know why your paed says he can't do it.

However, as well as fighting that battle, don't get too caught up on it. Assume he has Autism and act like he does.

Once he gets a dx nothing is going to change. You're not going to get any medicine or magic wand. You're still going to be left on your own...

So, you need to start working out if there is anything you can do to help him, right now.

Maybe try and book on a NAS early bird course. Just tell them you have a dx. They're hardly going to ask for a specialists letter....

Hi lisa where from nottinghamshire.